1000% increase in tourists visiting India on e-visas in 2015

India witnessed a 1000% growth in the number of tourists visiting the country on e-visas in 2015. The Ministry of Tourism has been recording a sharp increase in the number of tourists arriving in India since the launch of the e-visa facilities by the Indian government during the latter part of 2014.

Interesting statistics of tourists arriving to India on e-visas

India e-Visa

According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) report, as many as 445,300 tourists visited India on e-tourist visas during the period of January-December, 2015 as compared to 39,046 during the period of January-December, 2014. This reflected a growth of 1040.4% in the number of tourists arriving in the country on e-visas.

The month of December, 2015 saw the arrival of a total of 1,03,617 tourists on e-tourist visas as compared to 14,083 during the month of December, 2014 recording a growth of 635.8%.

During the month of January 2016, a total of 88,162 tourists arrived in India on e-tourist visa as compared to 25,023 during the same month last year, registering a growth of 252.3%.

UK was the top country to avail the e-tourist visa facility to visit India, followed by the USA, Russia, Australia and Germany. The New Delhi Airport saw the maximum frequency of tourists arriving and leaving the country on e-tourist visas in 2015, followed by the Mumbai Airport and the Goa Airport.

Reason behind the sharp growth of tourists visiting India on e-visas

The high growth of tourists arriving in India on e-visas may be attributed to the fact that the number of countries that can at present avail e-tourist visas have increased to 113.

The Indian Government had introduced the TvoA, enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), presently known as e-Tourist Visa scheme, on November 27, 2014. Initially the ETA enabled TVoA scheme was available to just 43 countries. Later the scheme was made available to citizens of 113 countries, enabling a large number of international tourists to take advantage of the facility.

At present any tourist travelling to India with an e-visa is allowed to enter and depart from 16 international airports in the country. When the scheme was launched this facility was available at only 9 international airports in 9 cities of the country. But the rule regarding the e-visa application to be submitted at least 4 days prior to arrival in India has remained unchanged.

There has been a revision in the e-tourist visa fee structure with effect from 3rd November, 2015. The 113 countries that can avail the e-tourist visa facilities have been divided into four groups. Each group has to pay a different rate. Even the bank charges have been reduced for the e-tourist visa fees. All these moves have helped to increase the number of tourists opting to travel to India by availing the e-visa scheme.

Future growth of tourist arrival in India on e-visas

With more and more people becoming net savvy there is a high possibility that the number of tourists visiting India with e-visas will keep on increasing in the coming years. India being a huge country with countless tourist attractions, the Ministry of Tourism can remain positive about the increased inflow of tourists to continue in the future as well.